India Lurches In Exports Of Vegetables.

Despite accounting for 15% of world's vegetables production, India had a relatively low, around 1.5%, global share of export of vegetables.

This was due to large domestic consumption, constrains of supply chain and marketing linkages, informed commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma in the Lok Sabha.

“Out of a global agricultural trade of $1,802 billion in 2009, India's share was 1.55% at $ 28 billion,” he said, quoting figures from United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UNCOMTRADE).

India was next only to China in production of vegetables.

The minister attributed the country's relatively small percentage of vegetables export to large domestic consumption, constrains of supply chain and marketing linkages.

Sharma also pointed to lack of warehousing facilities and post-harvest technology for processing. The minister said that essential commodities including food grains were allowed to be exported only after meeting the buffer stock and strategic reserve norms.

Quoting from APEDA (The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority), he said export of fresh onions went down by nearly 10% to 16.64 million tonnes in 2009 –10, as compared to 18.27 million tonnes a year ago.  

Likewise, export of dried and preserved vegetables slid to 1.2 million tonnes in 2009-10 against 1.4 million tonnes in the previous year.

The minister said the government was taking steps to encourage exports of agricultural products through various measures and incentives under plan schemes of the commodity boards and export promotion councils.

Source : fnbnews.com